


What Peggy Saw

by protectoroffaeries



Series: Kids on the Hill [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: M/M, Modern AU, Swearing, Underage Prostitution, poor peggy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:58:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9542642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectoroffaeries/pseuds/protectoroffaeries
Summary: Peggy saw something she really wishes she hadn't.(Or, what John and Alex were fighting about.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> my head feels really weird today but even so I think this turned out ok
> 
> heed the tags!!
> 
> don't do what these idiots do they're a mess tbh
> 
> please drop me comments i crave validation

Peggy is sitting on the kitchen counter, munching on chocolate-covered pretzels, when Alex Hamilton bursts through the Schuylers’ side door. Honestly, he took longer to come around than she expected, but then, she supposes he did have to wait until he could talk to her alone. He wouldn't want  _ anyone _ to overhear what Peggy saw, least of all her sisters. He doesn’t have to worry about that right now; Angelica is at some math-nerd club meeting, and Eliza’s at swim practice. All he has to worry about is Peggy herself - and he should be very, very afraid.

Peggy isn't going to lie; she's definitely going to try and milk this. She should get some compensation for the horrific image burned into the back of her eyes last Saturday at her dad's formal, ball-like birthday party. There are just some things that ain't meant to be seen, to take a phrase from pissy-gone-Southern John Laurens.

“Peggy,” Alex says, and then he cringes. She wonders where that sense of shame and embarrassment was when she caught him in the guest bedroom last weekend; maybe it only fades in the heat of the moment. Peggy wouldn't know; she's never had sex before, and she doesn't really want, so she doesn't think she'll have any confirmation on that theory anytime soon.

“Alex,” she says, coloring her words with false ignorance. “Need something?”

Alex heaves a heavy sigh, but Peggy doesn't feel bad for him. He made his bed when back when he was taken to bed, and now he's going to fucking lie in it.

“You can't tell anyone what you saw,” Alex says, and it sounds like a statement, except it has a pleading edge to it. Peggy has never heard the oh-so wise and knowledgeable Alexander Hamilton  _ plead _ before, and she finds it kind of amusing.

“Why not?” she asks. “I can see the headlines now: ‘Texas Representative Fucking the President's Son.’ They'd probably even use the word ‘fucking’ and just star out the middle letters. Oh, and they'd give me a lot of cash for a scoop like that.”

Alex's face scrunches up, and his lips curve into a sharp frown. Peggy wouldn't sell Alex out like that, and he probably knows it. She doesn't need any money; he knows that, too. But he shouldn't blow anyone, but especially not  _ Representatives,  _ in her guest bedroom, and if she remembers correctly, the age of consent in Virginia, where Peggy’s house happens to be located, is  _ eighteen _ , which is funny, because Alex is stuck on the fence at seventeen until January. And Alex knows the problems with both of those things, which is why Peggy doesn't feel too terrible threatening to go to the press.

“Don't be like this,” Alex says, and if that isn't the most  _ Alex _ response, Peggy doesn't know what is.

“Why not? Does he looove you or something?” Peggy asks, rolling her eyes and popping a pretzel in her mouth. Alex isn't stupid enough to believe a married man with a reputation to uphold could love him. At least, she hopes he isn't.  _ She  _ knows how stupid that is, and she's three years younger than him.

“No- Peggy, look, what do you want from me? I'll buy you something or, whatever,” Alex grumbles ineloquently. That doesn't sound much like the Alex she's familiar with, and so Peggy decides to dial it back a bit. Maybe he  _ does _ love what’s-his-face from Texas.

“I don't want you to buy me something. How about you just tell me why and promise not to do it in this house anymore, and we'll call it even?” Peggy suggests.

Alex leans against the peach-colored kitchen wall, some of the raw emotion dropping off his face. He sighs again, but this one's a little less huffy. “Why? Why I blew him? You sure you wanna know?”

Peggy nods.

“You can't tell anyone.”

“I thought we already covered that?”

“Peggy,” he warns.

“Right. Not a peep. Scout’s honor.”

Alex looks at the sink and pointedly not at her when he answers: “For money.”

Peggy blinks. She doesn't know what she was expecting, having already ruled out true love and all, but it wasn't  _ that. _ Holy crap. Did Alex really just-?

“Isn't that illegal? Double illegal? Since you're underage and all?” blurts Peggy, and she kind of regrets it when she sees Alex flinch.

“It's illegal enough that you can't tell anyone,” mutters Alex in response. Normally, Peggy wouldn't have a problem with that - a promise is a promise, and Peggy Schuyler doesn't break promises easily. But this… it feels like one of those ‘tell your parents or a trusted adult immediately’ kind of situations that they warn about in school. It feels  _ wrong. _

Before Peggy has time to piece together an appropriate response (if there is one; what's the proper protocol for when your sisters’ friend tells you he's whoring himself?), there's the sound of a door being opened down the hall, and suddenly Eliza and John Laurens’ laughter fills the air, worming into the awkward silence that's fallen between her and Alex.

Alex shoots her a look that says  _ not a word _ , and then Eliza and John are in the kitchen with them. Their hair is still damp from practice, they're both wearing comfy shorts and t-shirts, and they pause when they see Peggy and Alex, and then they exchange a look that Peggy thinks is  _ do you know what's going on because I don't. _

“Alexisgivingblowjobsformoney.” The words spew from Peggy's mouth before she can think, before Eliza and John even ask what's going on, and Alex gives her the nasty glare she's ever received. She definitely feels guilty now. She  _ promised. _ No one pressured her for information. But this isn't something she knows what to do with. She thinks Eliza and John’ll do a better job dealing with Alex here. And if Alex hates her for it, whatever. Shouldn't have  _ serviced _ his  _ clients _ in her house.

“What?” asks John, and then his eyes widen as he processes Peggy's rushed words. Eliza gasps and throws a hand over her mouth like she's the damsel from an old movie or something, and then she whispers, “Alexander?”

“So that's where you got all that money,” John says, and there's a dangerous edge to his words; Peggy can almost feel his disappointment in the air. There's also something akin to hurt written on his face, which is weird. It's not like Alex cheated on him or something, but that's what anyone would think by the look on his face.

Eliza, for her part, seems more upset than angry. Tears well in her eyes, and she's disappointed, too, but she also looks like she feels terrible for Alex, like she pities him, and for some reason Peggy doesn't like that.

“I'm not sure what you expected,” Alex says, and it takes Peggy a moment to realize he's responding to John. Alex’s whole being seems to have bristled defensively at John's unspoken accusations.

“‘Took a hobby, turned a profit.’ I thought that you were doing some writing on the side!” John shouts.

Eliza slips past him quietly, without drawing either boy’s attention. She motions for Peggy to  _ step back,  _ and though Peggy doesn't know why, she listens to her sister. The two of them move to the far end of the kitchen, and Eliza wraps her arms around Peggy's shoulders. “I'm afraid they may get violent,” she whispers, and Peggy’s mouth drops open in a silent  _ oh.  _ Shit. She never meant to start something.

_ “Journalism _ isn't my hobby; it's my future career!” Alex exclaims indignantly.

“Well, excuse me for not realizing  _ blowjobs _ are your idea of a hobby!”

“I like to suck dick, so what?”

“It's  _ fucking _ illegal, Alex, not to mention fucking unsanitary!”

“You know what I think?” Alex seeths, and Peggy can see the tension in his jaw from across the room, can see how his whole body is set on edge. John mirrors him, mostly, except John's hands are balled into tight fists, and he seems to be working hard to keep them at his sides. Peggy wonders if it was really so wise of Eliza to trap them in here with these two. Perhaps they should've gone upstairs.

Peggy peaks at Eliza's face; she doesn't look worried for her own safety, or Peggy's. She's watching the boys closely, eyes darting between them. Has she seen them get physical before?

“I think you're fucking jealous that it wasn't  _ you _ fucking my mouth!” Alex continues, and wow, that's crass, and it's saying something coming from Peggy, who swears with the best of ‘em  _ and  _ goes to public school.

“If I wanted a turn, I'm sure I could afford it,” John says lowly, and then he's digging in the pocket of his shorts. He pulls out a rumpled ten dollar bill and throws it in Alex’s face.

Alex snatches the money out of the air and growls, “I'm not that cheap, asshole.”

John pulls more money out of his pocket - a twenty, a five, a few ones - and tosses them at Alex in an angry but confusing gesture that Peggy isn't entirely sure she understands. Alex is just going to take all that money, and anyway,why should he feel bad about his friend implying that he's a whore when he actually is one?

Alex continues to snatch the money, his expression twisting into something more furious with every new bill. When John's out of cash to throw at him, he says, “You wanna fuckin’ BJ, John?” and drops to his knees, and Peggy's eyes pop out of her head because  _ wow, that escalated quickly. _

John jumps back, away from Alex, and looks away, probably so that Alex can't see the tears brimming in his eyes.

“Alexander!” Eliza finally interjects. “Get off your knees this instant!”

Alex scowls, but gets up, thank  _ God _ , and then he storms out of the kitchen without another word. No one moves until they hear the front door slam behind him, and then John wipes his face with his shirt and bolts, too. Peggy's left there with Eliza, reeling, wondering what the hell just happened.

“I'm sorry, Eliza,” Peggy says after a few heartbeats. The silence feels weird after all the shouting. She wonders if her apology is because she doesn't understand all she's feeling right now or if it's just a way to dispel the silence.

“You've nothing to be sorry for,” Eliza says quietly. “It's the two of them that should be ashamed.”

Peggy can't help but feel somewhat responsible, though. She's the one that saw what Alex did.

 


End file.
